Travel Tales: August 2014

George and I reenacting slow dancing at the site of the old Youth Center...Friday nights after football games    Facebook group class of 64 will have lots more photos as they are posted.
     It was amazing to see so many of my classmates from Grosse Ile this weekend. Our class was the first to attend the "new" elementary school built for the baby boomers. Many of us went through school together and graduated in 1964 together. This weekend was the 50th Reunion and was a great time.
    Friday night was a pizza party at the Bishops House, a bed and breakfast run by our classmate Kathy Osario Brockmuller. The site is an old Tudor style home with a small café and garden dining area. As we strolled in we were greeted by old friends, everyone saying we hadn't changed at all...well...everyone is going to have a very long Pinocchio nose today!! but fun to hear. I enjoyed talking to as many as I could and had a long conversation with Bob Anderson who is a noted portrait painter these days.   We hope to keep in touch and share our love of art.
    Sue Melhose Stoll planned the day on Saturday ...a fun packed road rally that had us solving the poem clues about various locations around the island. Some new and some old. Kathy Sullivan drove us around and fortunately knew some of the spots that were mysteries to us...a Llama Farm???
The old Youth Center was torn down years ago but all of us have fond memories of days and evenings spent there in our youth. From jr hi Saturday night dances to Sr night on Fridays, many a romantic dance was done to "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes". Our task at this spot was to write our fondest memory on the sidewalk...and dancing with George there was mine.
    We ended up back at Sharkey's and several of us ate lunch together before heading over to Krogers.   This store wasn't there when growing up, only Nate's was available for food shopping. Usually it meant driving "off island" to A & P in those days. But today Kroger is a beautiful store and better be prepared to meet friends when you shop!!   The manager graciously allowed us to take over the frozen food aisle to do a Flash Mob dancing the Stroll. Although I hadn't done it in 50 years, I stumbled my way through it and it was a blast. George filmed it and I am trying to get it loaded to the site, but it will be on GI TV for a month as well.   Too funny!! We had shoppers dance down the asile and classmates from different years join in the fun.
    After rushing back to change we gathered at Curt Crysler's lovely home for a cocktail party. Edith Gail and her husband performed a balancing yoga act for us....Amazing!! We all wished we could do that and look as great in a leotard...but don't ask!!   The GI yacht club was waiting with tables decorated in our school colors, and red devil motif. The evening was spent meeting more classmates, dancing, and generally having a great time. Kathy Connellan King gave a wonderful tribute and memorial to our classmates who have passed. They were sadly missed.
    Sunday was a slower pace and allowed a bit of sleep-in time. At Portofino in Wyandotte we boarded their boat for brunch and a sail down to Bois Blanc Island or as well all knew it..Bob Lo. Now a residential site for Canadians, we remembered the fun we had at the old amusement park, especially with the St. James Episcopal Church annual picnic!!   The old "silver sands" beach at the far end of the dike is all overgrown with foliage now but many of us boaters had fond memories of days and nights spent on that beach. The tightened US security on the boarders has ended many of the old haunts of boaters as they were on or in Canadian waters. Crystal Bay is deserted sadly.

We left the boat and old friends promising to keep in touch better. what a gift we were given by those who planned this weekend....thank you so much!!